The latest announcement regarding the upcoming TF2 Sniper update is a rather shocking one: an unlockable anti-Spy shield for the Sniper.

The Sniper wears the Razorback shield on his back, which provides him ample electrified protection from backstabbing spies. The battery-powered item is good for one use, but wearing it is said to "slow you down a little."

"Any poor sap dumb enough to backstab you while you're sporting one is getting a surprise to the tune of 10,000 volts," writes Valve. "Plus, if they want to stab you again, they'll have to wait until their knife cools down. Which is lucky for you, since the Razorback collapses into a million finely crafted pieces after a single stab."

The Sniper update, which also includes the head-slot items, Payload Race mode, new arena maps and more, will be out within days.

In addition to the class unlocks, head-slot items and other inclusions expected in the upcoming Team Fortress 2 Sniper update, Valve announced today that it is also throwing in a new game mode called "Payload Race."

The mode, described as "gladiatorial cart combat," will operate like the previous payload mode--but rather than one team attempting to push a mine cart to a finish line, both will be tasked with doing so simultaneously.

The first map for Payload Race appears to be titled "Pipeline." A document written by Valve (above, right) notes that if players stop pushing the cart "for a sec," it will roll down to the bottom of the ramp.

Valve has also revealed that the update will bring two new Arena maps: Sawmill and Nucleus.

Of Sawmill, Valve writes: "Set in a stormy mountain sawmill, this... Read more

Update: Valve has clarified the Huntsman's attack, reiterating that it has no stun effect. Arrows merely pin players to the wall following death.

Original story: Valve today announced that the Sniper update for Team Fortress 2 is coming in the next few days, and has lifted the curtain on the first unlockable for the long-range class.

"The Huntsman" will arm the Sniper with an elegant hunting bow. The bow comes armed "with 18 arrows and a one-second charge for full power shots"--and a unique post-kill effect.

"Any experienced sniper will tell you how irritating it is when your targets keep moving around," writes Valve. "The question is how to stop these cheaters from wind-sprinting around like they own the place. And the answer is to... Read more

A new post on the official Team Fortress 2 blog has shed some light on Valve's upcoming Sniper update.

"In an effort to reduce some of the aggravation that other players feel towards the Sniper, we chose the goal of designing an unlockable that encouraged the Sniper to get a little closer to his target," writes Valve's Robin Walker.

"We want him to give up some of his primary advantage in return for something else, so that enemies he kills feel like they were engaged with them, and feel like they could have survived if they'd just managed to fight a little better," he teased.

No news on when the update will go live, though it's expected to launch sometime after the head-slot item update.

Fresh off the addition of an item backpack and a character hat-slot to Team Fortress 2--and the discovery of latent, item-related lines of game code that spawned many RPG-related jokes--developer Valve has gotten in on the joke with the most recent TF2 patch.

Ever vigilant in the pursuit of code-based scoops, the Steam community recently discovered a few extra lines of amusing code hidden in the game's GFC files by the amused developers.

The code in question is copied below.... Read more

The latest patch to Team Fortress 2 introduced some very mysterious mechanics--primarily, the addition of a 50-slot "backpack" to store items, and a new slot for headgear to accompany the traditional unlockables.

Naturally, the steathily-added features set off a storm of speculation amongst the fan community. Just how far is Valve going with these World of Warcraft-esque changes? When can I buy an epic mount for my Heavy?

In reality, the hats will be purely cosmetic in nature--at least initially. Valve's Robin Walker told us that while the TF2 team is interested in exploring more radical, RPG-style mechanics, the plan is to slowly introduce these new elements in order to carefully "measure the effect of each change, both on the game and on the community."

"The primary change here is simply the decoupling of achievements and unlockables, which is the source of most of the negative feedback we've received around previous class packs," said Walker. "It'll provide multiple ways... Read more

Valve has released a new patch for its colorful team-based multiplayer shooter Team Fortress 2 (PC), teasing upcoming "future features."

The update brings a new "head" slot into the Loadout menu, and introduces a Backpack that has slots for up to 50 different items.

Last year, Valve began updating each class with three unlockable items, with the Sniper receiving new equipment next. The Backpack and head slot certainly suggest more items are on the way for everyone, as 3 items for 9 classes only accounts for 27 items.

"We've got another update in the works that should be done before the Sniper, and that one will include some new content for all classes," Valve said in early April.

"We're also going to be looking at ways that players can get items other than achievement unlocking," TF2 director Robin Walker told Shacknews last year.

Curiously, the patch also brings the ability to delete items from the Backpack, with the warning that a deleted item "can never be re-earned." The changelog... Read more

After yesterday's pissy tease, Valve today confirmed that, yes, the Sniper will be the next Team Fortress 2 class to receive unlockable items and class-specific achievements.

"It's actually shaping up to be the largest TF2 update yet, with multiple new maps and a bunch of gameplay tweaks," wrote Greg Cherlin on Valve's Team Fortress blog.

"We've got another update in the works that should be done before the Sniper, and that one will include some new content for all classes," he added.

And while the Xbox 360 version of the colorful multiplayer shooter has still... Read more

Marking possibly the final April Fools' joke we'll cover, Valve has unveiled the first sniper unlockable ability: "Jarate."

Not content with a simple baseball, the sniper has mastered the long-forgotten art of Jarate, which apparently entails hurling jars of urine at his enemies.

Reads the update: "Wreak havoc on your opponent's mental state, psychological well-being and trust in the inherent goodness of his fellow man!"

The latest patch to Valve's multiplayer shooter Team Fortress 2 officially adds multicore rendering support, allowing users with fancy CPUs to take advantage of their myriad cores for faster framerates.

Though multicore support is now an official option rather than a hidden console command, Valve notes that it is testing the compatibility of the feature, so the option is turned off by default. To enable the option, go to "Options->Video->Advanced" in the game's menu.

The brief patch notes follow:... Read more

Valve today released a decent-sized patch to Team Fortress 2, making a few tweaks and changes to the game's classes and systems.

Gameplay alterations include adding a duck timer, re-enabling spy side-stabs, and a primary weapon default for disguises. Other various bug fixes round out the list.

Take a gander at the full patch notes below:... Read more

Valve today launched the anticipated Scout update for its multiplayer class-based shooter Team Fortress 2.

The update adds new Scout achievements, three unlockable weapons--the Sandman ball and bat, Bonk energy drink and Force-A-Nature shotgun--and three community maps to the mix.

The update did not include a new mode, "Meet the" movie, or a Valve-created map, all oft-rumored potential additions.

Valve has also reduced the cost of Team Fortress 2 by half until Friday, bringing the price down to a paltry $10. The discount follows a popular half-off Left 4 Dead sale, which netted overall sales that beat the game's original launch.

This week's Team Fortress 2 update will bring the Scout class a new weapon titled the "Force-A-Nature," a weapon that has been detailed in Valve's latest teaser page.

The double-barrel, two-shot "Force-A-Nature" is characterized by its unique knockback effect and slow reload time. If used in midair, the weapon will propel Scouts further into the stratosphere.

A new user poll has also been opened, allowing Scout fans to vote for the order in which the new items are unlocked.

Valve is also now selling a new Force-A-Nature-themed t-shirt for $19.95.

Today's Team Fortress 2 update update reveals the addition of community map CP_Egypt to the anticipated Scout pack, set for release next Tuesday.

Egypt, created by Sean 'Heyo' Cutino, is described as a visually-striking, Dustbowl-style control point map. Images of the map can be seen below.

Descriptions to yesterday's achievements have also been added by Valve, revealing that a knockback weapon titled the "Force-A-Nature" will be added to the Scout's unlockables in the coming days.

The full achievements list with descriptions follows:... Read more

Continuing to slowly unveil the aspects of the big Team Fortress 2 update coming next Tuesday, developer Valve has revealed the Scout's second item and achievements.

The "Bonk!" energy drink will allow Scouts to move even faster, providing "a few-second rush of radioactive energy so powerful you'll be dodgin' bullets like they ain't even there!" However, users will experience a period of slowdown after that initial burst.

The picture that accompanied the revelation also suggests a new Payload map is on the way, perhaps one with dual carts, and seemingly shows an as-yet-unnamed alternate version of the Scout's traditional Scattergun weapon that lacks a revolver.

Furthermore, the "Triple Play" achievement and its accompanying icon imply that a new gameplay mode, of the flag-based control point variety, could be in store.

As for the achievements themselves, only the icons and the names were provided. As usual, we'll have to wait for Valve to detail the conditions under which they're earned.

1. A Year to Remember
2. Artful Dodger
3. Batter Up
4. Batting the Doctor ... Read more

A series of Valve-fashioned comics is in the works, according to comments made by Valve's Gabe Newell and notated by G4TV.

The comics will be designed by the internal Valve team responsible for the "Meet the" series of class-specific videos.

No other details on the comics were mentioned by Newell during his DICE keynote, though he cited the comic series as yet another tactic to excite customers about the company's games outside of creating game content.

In a post on the official Team Fortress 2 blog, the TF2 announcer has announced a new initiative to punish players that took advantage of a recent exploit.

"We have sounded the alert and released a quick fix for an exploit that some unscrupulous players were using to wield items on invalid classes," said the announcer.

"I have considered an appropriate punishment for the good-for-nothings responsible for this horrendous breach of conduct," she added. "Death, of course--but death is too good for disappointments such as these. Instead, their unlockable items have been removed for a month."

Of course, even those players that managed to escape the announcer's wrath were marked as future failures.

"To the majority of you who did not see fit to cheat, you have my congratulations: I await the countless other ways you will inevitably disappoint me in the future."

Valve has pulled the lid off the community maps shipping with the Team Fortress 2 Scout update.

Created by Joshua 'JoshuaC' Shiflet, Arena_Watchtower is an Arena map "that plays unlike any of Valve's Arena maps, with a heavy focus on vertical space and long, open sight lines," according to Valve's description.

The second map, CP_Junction by Sean 'Heyo' Cutino, is described as a Gravel Pit-style map full of "tight spaces and short sight lines."

The maps will go live next Tuesday, along with the Scout unlockables and other updates.

Valve today announced that the anticipated Scout-centric update to Team Fortress 2 will be released next Tuesday, February 24.

In anticipation of the update, Valve has launched a new website to tease the Scout's upgrades on a daily basis.

The first weapon revealed is "The Sandman," a "highly collectible bat that smacks baseballs at the other team, stunning the living crap outta anybody dumb, slow, drunk, mute or Australian enough to get in the way."

The bat allows players to fire a baseball at enemies. The further the ball flies, the longer it stuns an enemy. The catch? Players using the bat can't double jump.... Read more

A new post on the official Team Fortress 2 blog by Valve's Robin Walker was provided a glimpse at the early concept stage of Team Fortress 2's unique art style.

"The Scout was one of the first TF2 classes we worked on when we decided to try out a more stylized approach to the game," writes Walker. "As a result, his concept art is further afield, and in the eyes of our artists, much more embarrassing."

The concept art was apparently drawn by longtime Valve artist Dhabih Eng.

Adds Walker: "Dhabih threatened us in various ways not to show anyone his Scout concepts, so we told him we wouldn't do that. Luckily, he doesn't read the internet much, preferring to spend his time sipping lattes at locally owned organic vegan coffee shops, so if you don't tell him you've seen the this concept art, we won't."